Introduction

Early 1985, Jim Vasseleu from NSW petitioned for the formation of an IEEE Australia Council (AC), as the Western Australia Section had formed,and the Victorian sub-section was being upgraded to Section status. Once the Australia Council was established, the original IEEE Australia Section was renamed to the IEEE NSW Section. The first AC meeting was held on 30th May 1986 in Sydney. Max Simons was the founding Chair of the IEEE Australia Council, with Richard Clark being Secretary / Treasurer.

The IEEE AC is composed only of members represented by individual Section nominees.

IEEE Section / Council Structure in Australia

The initial plan for the Section / Council structure in Australia was envisaged in 1985 as:

With the formation of the Victorian Section and the desire for other states to be equally represented, eventually lead to a change in the way IEEE operated in Australia and in New South Wales in particular. Approval for the formation of an Australia Council was granted in Dec 1985. The IEEE Australian Section was renamed the IEEE New South Wales Section.

Agreements between Engineers Australia, IET and IEEE

The first agreement by IEEE was with the IEE resulting from discussions by Jim Vasseleu and Leo Young in 1978 and signed circa 1993, modelled off a similar agreement that existed in Northern Italy at that time. Agreement negotiations were handed over from the old ‘Australia Section’ to the newly formed IEEE Australia Council committee - stalling the agreement for 2 years, which was then escalated to IEEE HQ for a delegated signoff. The tri-partite agreement between IEEE, IEE and IEAust was formulated to offer Australian members of 2 or more engineering institutions a discount on membership fees, ranging from 5% to 10%. This was finally ratified on 7 September 1998, signatories were Dr Andrew Parfitt (for IEEE), Barry .?. (for IEAust), and the then president of IEE (?).

In early 2002, the Australia Council decided not to renew the tripartite agreement, and subsequent work and teleconferences were undertaken by the NSW Section to re-focus other sections. The 2002 Australia Council levy to Sections located in Australia was set at AUD$0.50 per member.

In early 2003, a detailed MOU was prepared between the IEEE, IEE and Engineers Australia which bridged the period until the tri-partite agreement could be re-ratified. Refer to the IEEE NSW Section historical archives for a copy this document.

The AC By-laws were revised and updated in March 2003.

The 1998 tri-partite agreement (MOU) of IEE/IEEE/IEAust was not renewed automatically given objections from the Victorian Section. The objections were eventually addressed and a revised agreement was re-ratified on 27 June 2003 with expiry 1 Jan 2006.

A new IEEE / IET and Engineers Australia collaboration agreement was prepared in March 2006 and agreed on 7 April 2006, noting this agreement did not include any multiple member discount arrangements. This agreement is valid to 31 Dec 2008.